China Travel Advice

Q: What is fastest method to travel from Yiwu to Ningbo? I speak no Chinese.

The most convenient way to travel between Yiwu and Ningbo would be by long distance coach. You should be able to find these buses at Yiwu Long Distance Bus Station (Yiwu Changtu Qiche Zhan), also known as Binwang Keyun Zhongxin (Binwang Passenger transportation Center). There should be departures throughout the day, from early morning to the evening, every hour or so. The station is located at No. 221 Binwang Road. Tel.: 0579 8513 0066 (chance is that they don't speak English). There are a couple of other long distance bus stations in Yiwu, but Binwang is the main one.

Fare for a bus ride from Yiwu and Ningbo is RMB70-90. Travel time is approximately two hours.

Make sure you get on one of those express buses. These buses go by the freeway and do not make local stops. People call these "Kuai Ke" - "fast passenger buses." Other buses may get off the freeway to load and unload and then continue the journey to Ningbo. Do not go along with people who come to you and try to get you on their buses. You may pay less, but you may end up spend more time on the road. Go to the ticketing office.

There are train services between Yiwu and Ningbo, but three of the four trains that run from Yiwu to Ningbo depart at midnight. Train travel time is approximately 4 h and 30 m, so it takes longer time to go by train than by bus. Nor does it seem worth the trouble of taking a night train for a relatively short trip like this, even though you may be able to get a sleeping berth on your train. The fourth of the trains departs at about 8:30 am and arrives in Ningbo at 1:00 pm.

Generally, you can purchase train tickets a few days in advance and you can show up and travel at a bus station. Of course, even though chance is that you can find the bus you need, you want to make sure that you'll be able to travel on the day of your choice.